Heaven's Reluctant Messenger
by dantesdarkqueen
Summary: Somewhere between her best friend's car and her house, Victoria got a little lost... How did actual history go again? And why the hell couldn't she have wound up in Shu?
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: **Somewhere between her best friend's car and her house, Victoria got a little lost... How did actual history go again? And why the hell couldn't she have wound up in Shu?

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing but various and assorted DW games and WO2. If only my ownership extended beyond mere copies of said games...

**Queen's Quornor: **Yes, I know time-jump fics are kind of common here. But you know how you sometimes get that idea that just won't die, no matter how many times you try to kill it? I finally gave in, and figured I'd try to put my own spin on things by limiting Tori's knowledge of Three Kingdoms history to what is represented in WO2. The games themselves fictionalize a lot of things, even moreso than _Romance of the Three Kingdoms_, so I decided I'd try mixing those two versions with actual history and a few little things of my own. I'm not sure if I want to send Tori back to our own time or not; let's just see how the story develops.

A Miserable Day

"Stop the car."

"Tori, what's the big deal? I just want to double-date to prom."

"Kate, if you don't stop this car _right now_, I am going to make your suicide doors exactly that," Victoria hissed, gripping the door's handle in emphasis.

"Fine, I'm pulling over. You're such a drama queen!" The car began swerving to the side of the highway. "What's up with you? I thought you said it was okay if I went out with Jeff!"

"I didn't think you would! He broke my heart, Kate! You're supposed to be my best friend!"

"I _am _your best friend!" Kate glared at her through oversized sunglasses, a pointless accessory when the sky was as overcast as it was today.

"You're an insensitive bitch!"

"It's not like he cheated or anything! He just didn't want a monkey distracting him from soccer!"

The car had already stopped, but it was beginning to rock with the force of two teenage girls screaming at each other. "So why the hell did he say yes to you?" Victoria demanded, resisting the urge to rip out her friend's shiny black hair and jam those stylish shades down her throat.

Kate sneered at her. "Maybe he thinks I'm hotter. At least _I'm _willing to put out."

"Fuck you!" Victoria slammed the door open and clambered out, dragging her backpack after her.

"Fuck you _and _your bigass momma!" Tires squealed and gravel flew as the car peeled out, leaving Victoria seething on the highway shoulder. She glared fiery death at the vehicle long after it vanished around the nearest curve, then hitched her backpack over her arm and started walking.

How could Kate just go and steal Jeff like that? She knew how much she had loved him. Hell, she'd been Victoria's shoulder when they had broken up! Best friends weren't supposed to date each others' exes. It was a rule. Sure, Jeff was a star athlete and the hottest catch at Lincoln County High School, and a shoo-in for Prom King, but Kate should have known he was off-limits!

And to have the nerve to ask her if she wanted to double-date to prom, when Victoria hadn't even rebounded yet... Kate had bigger balls than Jeff, that was for sure. She just wanted to rub salt in Victoria's wounds, knowing that it would kill her to see them together. Bitch probably dreamed about the look on her face when she got the spotlight dance with her best friend's ex, the crowns gleaming atop their heads while Victoria's mascara ran.

"Why did I ever become friends with that selfish, backstabbing whore?" she muttered, swiping at her eyes. "When I see her on Monday, I'll break all those perfect teeth of hers." Kate would never know what hit her. Victoria had five brothers, and she'd picked up a few things over the years. One well-placed right hook, and the would-be Prom Queen would be sporting a black eye during her coronation.

Victoria felt something splatter against her nose, and looked up in time to see the sky open. She cursed and kept walking, thankful that her backpack was waterproof and she'd thought to put her cell phone in there instead of her pocket.

Maybe after she decked Kate, she'd go teach Jeff a lesson, too. He knew she and Kate were best friends. It would have crossed his mind that they would be going to prom together. Bastard probably wanted to hurt her even more, taking Kate to the big dance instead. Victoria resolved to put his groin in a splint the next time she saw him.

The rain was really coming down. Victoria lowered her head and concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. She could barely see anything through the relentless curtain of water. If Kate hadn't opened her big mouth, she wouldn't be walking home like some drowned rat. Maybe the bitch had checked the weather forecast on her iPhone before school ended.

Stupid Kate. Stupid Jeff. Stupid prom.

She pushed her sodden blonde hair out of her face. Stupid rain.

At least her house wasn't too far away. Next turnoff into the hills, then the second driveway on the left, and she'd be home. It was easy to walk, even when it was pouring like this. She would be home a little later than usual, but not to the point that her parents would get worried. Her brothers, on the other hand... A grin split her face as she thought about their predictable reaction. Being the only girl in a family of boys definitely had its perks. Jeff should have thought before asking Kate to prom, because once Victoria sobbed out the story, he would be attending the dance in a body cast.

Even if she didn't sic her brothers on her ex, Victoria could still reap a lot of benefits from this mess. If she really played up the car-fight and worked the drowned rat look, there was a damn good chance Jesse would let her have Zhao Yun in the versus tournament later.

Her family had put their own spin on the whole Game Night thing. Every Friday after dinner, they would fire up _Warriors of Orochi 2 _on the PS2, pick their individual trios, and fight according to numbers drawn from a hat. The last person standing would then challenge the previous week's victor, and whoever won that match would be awarded custody of the family's third car for the next seven days. Victoria never got to play her favorite character because her second oldest brother always nabbed him first.

Zhao Yun, Ginchiyo Tachibana, and Jiang Wei. Her best team, for once. She wouldn't have to swap in Guan Yu, if she played this right. Then she'd get the car and wouldn't have to bum rides to school next week. Not only did that mean some precious freedom, but she wouldn't have to negociate favors with Christian if he emerged triumphant. She paused to kick an inviting piece of gravel across the road; a college boy like him should have gotten a car of his own long ago. It wasn't fair that he still had a right to the third car.

Envisioning the sweet victory that awaited, and hindered by the obscuring rain, Victoria did not pay much attention to where she was going. So she was caught completely by surprise when she tumbled head-over-heels down a hill.

At the bottom of a long and steep incline, Victoria lay flat on her back, blinking up at the downpour in a daze. Where had that hill come from? Even if she had overshot the turnoff, the guardrail should have stopped her fall before it began. Some jerk in a truck must have torn a hole in the steel or something.

"Is the world out to get me today?" she asked the sky.

No answer was forthcoming, so Victoria began peeling herself out of the grass. Retrieving her backpack, she wiped the rain away from her eyes and began plodding back up the hill.

In the midst of sullen indignation, she somehow forgot Newton's laws of motion and gravity, as applied to friction. In other words, her foot slipped on the slick grass. Back where she had started, with muddier jeans this time, she took a moment to reacquaint herself with the physics of Mr. Newton.

When the vegetation presumably failed to wither after five minutes of death-glare, Victoria got to her feet and swatted at the mud caking her knees. "Stupid hill!" She decided not to give her nonexistent audience further satisfaction by trying to get back up to the road. With a flip of her middle finger in the hill's general direction, she began stalking towards her turnoff, based on a wild guess.

As she trekked through the soggy grass, still shrouded by the pouring rain, Victoria began dreaming of a game plan for tonight's tournament.

Assuming she got Zhao Yun, Jesse would fill out his usual team of Magoichi Saika and Taegong Wang with Yukimura Sanada. The Japanese spearman was pretty speedy, but Zhao Yun was a more balanced character with better sweeping attacks. She'd have to beware of Magoichi, but Jesse wouldn't be too much of a problem otherwise. Her two youngest brothers, Sam and Charlie, also presented little concern. Sam had a habit of relying on Orochi too much, and he often sent Da Ji dancing over the arena's edge in his enthusiasm. Charlie was fond of using Xing Cai, Xiao Qiao, and Gracia but he tended to forget that a good running start could send his favorite careening into a ring out. Joey was an all-around lousy player, so he was an easy victory if she had to fight him.

Christian, her oldest brother, would be the opponent to beat. His team of Zhang He, Ling Tong, and Gan Ning was pretty tight, both quick and powerful with a wealth of attacks designed to send an opponent flying. He got the car more often than anybody else. But after many casual matches, she knew that with Zhao Yun she had the best chance at the keys. Christian's team lacked one critical factor: _range_.

Victoria smirked. Tonight his unholy alliance would be defeated by her (almost) fully Shu team. She could almost _feel _the car's leather steering wheel beneath her curled fingers.

Man, this rain was persistent. Shouldn't it have ended by now? And where the hell was the turnoff? Surely she should have stumbled across it by now, even with her off-road detour. She had kept the hill on her right this entire time, barely visible but still there. Just how long had she been walking, anyway?

"I can't be lost," she told herself. "The rain's just making me think shit. I'll probably get there soon."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The rain was beginning to slow, but Victoria was in no mood to celebrate. It felt like she had been walking for hours, her shoulders were sore from the weight of her backpack, and she _still _hadn't found her turnoff. Now a little scared, she stopped and considered the hill again as a thought came to mind.

Where was the traffic?

Victoria backed up a bit, and began lunging up the hill. Her feet slipped a few times, but she clawed at the long grass, determined to get back to the road. Maybe the rain had just muffled the traffic, or slowed it to a crawl. Visibility had been pretty low, so it might have been too dangerous to drive at the normal speeds. She kept repeating this to herself as she scrambled to the top. After resting for a moment, she finally lifted her head to look around.

There was no road. All her astounded eyes could pick out through the rain was more grass.

"..._the fuck?_" she breathed. A quick rub at her eyes did not make the scenery change. How the hell had she lost the road? It had been right beside her sneakers until she fell down that damn hill, and she had been careful to keep the miserable excuse for geography close enough to see through the rain. There was no way she could have gotten lost.

Victoria shoved a hand through her hair, gripping the roots tight between her fingers. How was she supposed to get home? She couldn't see any landmarks, thanks to the damned weather, and she didn't dare use her cell phone in case it shorted out. Her family was going to have a cow if she didn't call or something; it had to be getting late, if the gnawing in her stomach was any clue.

"Where the hell am I?"

She jumped and nearly slid back down the hill again as she received a reply. She didn't understand a word of it, but to her mind it sounded like Chinese, maybe Japanese. Her sneakers slipped on the wet grass as she backed away from the unseen speaker.

"Who's there?" she demanded, envisioning rapists and kidnappers. The thought of retrieving her jackknife arose, but for some reason her hand stayed well away from her pocket. If nothing else, she had her fists and feet.

More jibber-jabber, and a figure emerged from the rain and mist. Victoria misplaced her jaw somewhere in the vicitiny of her knees then, instantly recognizing the man. She and her brothers had spent many game sessions mocking his hair, reminiscent of a giant nailbrush, and that ugly, prune-colored tattoo over his right eye. Victoria whipped away from the apparition, knuckling her eyes hard.

She had to be dreaming, or hallucinating. This was crazy. There was _no way _Zuo Ci was here, _no way_ the highway had vanished! That was impossible!

The grass kept swishing with the tread of approaching feet and Victoria shook her head, throwing one hand out in a childish attempt to ward the insanity away. He said something, and suddenly her hand was engulfed in cool heat. When she tried to jerk free, she found herself unable to do so. For such a frail old man, he was pretty damn strong.

"Let me go!" she yelped, tugging backwards.

He spoke again, the tone gentle, before reaching his free hand to touch her forehead.

Her entire body jerked with the shock that rippled across her head. Victoria's fingers immediately began rubbing at her scalp, attempting to ease the ache deep within her brain. "What did you do to me?"

"I have merely helped you understand that I mean you no harm."

"Yeah, like that didn't..." Something clicked in her head, and Victoria looked at him with wide eyes and a slack jaw. "Wait. You speak English?"

He chuckled softly. "Not a word of it. I only enabled you to speak and understand our language, as if you had heard it from the moment of your birth."

Her heart plunged and raced at the same time. She didn't think that was possible. "Where am I?"

"I will tell you, and explain as best I can. But first we must get you inside, lest you freeze or become ill. You must be hungry," he added when her stomach voiced its opinion.

Victoria hestitated. Bad stuff happened to girls who went traipsing off with strange men, even if the guy in question wasn't supposed to be real. _Especially _then. But she was hungry, and soaked, and confused as all hell... "Who are you?" spilled from her lips.

He bowed slightly. "I am Zuo Ci, and I was sent to help you. Now come. My home is not far."

Speechless, Victoria allowed him to guide her along.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"To answer your earlier question," Zuo Ci began, handing Victoria a wooden bowl filled with rice and a pair of chopsticks, "you are in Xia Kou, in the Jing Province. This area is controlled by Lord Sun Quan, who conquered it just yesterday. His army has yet to return to Wu, so you will be interacting with them very soon."

Victoria fumbled with the sticks, not at all sure how to hold them, let alone scoop rice from the bowl balanced on her thighs. Further complicating matters was the blanket she held shut with one hand, her only attire while her sopping clothes and shoes dried near the fire. "Who said anything about interacting with Wu? I just want to go home, not play some role in a video game."

"This is no game, Lady..."

She mentally smacked herself for forgetting her manners. "Sorry. I'm Victoria Townsend, but my friends call me Tori."

"As you wish." Zuo Ci reached across to position the chopsticks in her fingers, and she clumsily began eating as he went to sit on the opposite side of the small fire. "This is all too real, I am afraid. You will meet Lord Sun, and you will get involved."

"Don't I get a say in this?" she grumbled. "I don't even like Wu that much. I prefer Shu."

"That is not an option," he informed her solemnly.

"Riiiiight." Her eyes rolled and she continued wolfing down the rice. "You still haven't answered my biggest question. How the hell did I get here?"

"Heaven sent you."

The sticks clattered against the rim of the bowl, and she stared at him. "What? That's crazy. Even if there was such a thing as Heaven, what's so special about me? I'm just a regular girl, not some great such-and-such. Sun Quan already has plenty of advisors and strategists and kickass warriors. He doesn't need some useless teenager from the future."

Zuo Ci folded his hands, regarding her with quiet dignity. After a brief staring contest, Victoria sullenly picked the sticks back up and fell back to her meal. "Heaven makes no mistakes, Lady Tori. There is a reason why you were sent, although I cannot presume Heaven's will. All I know is that you must meet with Lord Sun and aid his cause."

"But what can I do?" she asked again, thinking that he sounded a lot like that crazy preacher, Zhang Jiao.

"At the very least, your presence will garner the loyalty of fickle men. You are quite unlike any woman ever seen before, so Lords Sun and Zhou may use you as a representative of Heaven's favor." Zuo Ci took the empty bowl when she handed it to him.

"And how, exactly, am I different?"

"Your hair and eyes are the most obvious. You are crowned with the sun's golden majesty, and gaze upon the land through eyes of cloudless sky. You resemble the heavens, Lady Tori, and that is quite unique. The lords of Wu will use that to their advantage, once they determine that you are worthy of their trust."

Victoria shook her head, wishing this was all some crazy dream. Maybe she'd hit her head when she fell earlier. "So just because I'm the all-American girl, I get to play Heavenly Messenger? That's just great. Don't I get the option of going home and pretending this never happened?"

"I am afraid that is quite impossible, Lady Tori," he replied, his tone colored with sympathy and resolve.

"That's usually the case," she sighed. "So when do I get to meet Sun Quan?"

He stood and waved a hand at Victoria's clothing, which had been drying on bamboo rods near the cookfire. She blinked as the dripping articles became as dry as if she had just pulled them from a machine. Why hadn't he done that earlier? Guy had probably just wanted to see her legs. Pervert. "If you will dress yourself, I will arrange for you to meet him. Your appearance will serve to grant you an audience, and your personal effects will ensure his full attention. I suggest you prepare yourself for an extremely thorough meeting."

Victoria grabbed her clothes and scurried to a darker corner of the cave. Zuo Ci turned his back to her, but she kept a careful eye on him as she struggled to keep the blanket from slipping off her shoulders while she dressed. "He's not going to have me strip-searched, is he?" she called.

"I doubt it. In the event that he does, however, you will be searched by a guard."

She glanced his way, then shrugged off the blanket and tugged on her shirt in one swift move. Now somewhat safe from wandering eyes, she reached for her bra. She had long since mastered the art of donning and removing that particular garment while fully clothed. "That's not encouraging, man."

"I am afraid there is very little encouragement I can offer. You are in a unique and awkward position, Lady Tori. You will be asked questions you will find uncomfortable, and to which you have no answers." Victoria stuck her tongue out at his back and began slipping on her sneakers. "But Heaven will provide. However you arrived here, there is a reason. I do not believe you were sent merely to be killed."

"The way my luck's been today, I wouldn't be surprised," she grumbled. Folding the blanket over one arm, she made her way back to the fire and her unexpected mentor. "Shall we?"

Zuo Ci gave her a tiny smile, then vanished. In his place stood a youngish man dressed in rust-red clothes and scuffed, worn armor. To Victoria's astonished eyes, he bore a close resemblence to the generic Wu soldiers in the game. "If you would be so kind, Lady Tori?" he prompted, pulling a length of rope from somewhere behind him.

"What are you doing?" she demanded. Clearly Zuo Ci's abilities as a sorceror were not just virtual hoopla. Victoria really hoped she wouldn't be running into Zhang Jiao anytime soon.

"The quickest way for you to meet Lord Sun is as a prisoner. The battle is over, but the Wu army remains vigilant. I will explain that I discovered you during my patrol and found you too suspicious to allow passage." He held up the rope in emphasis. "You will be treated as a suspicious character, but not a potential spy. Believe me when I say this is the better approach, Lady Tori."

Victoria sighed. Who knew what they would do to a spy? She couldn't imagine an interrogation being as hands-off as one conducted by modern policemen. Prisoners definitely wouldn't have the same rights in this day and age. "Will you stay with me?" she asked, presenting her hands.

Zuo Ci began binding her wrists, careful not to tie the rope too tight. "I will only remain so long as I am needed. But I imagine that you will not need me too much longer. If what I have heard of the battle is true, you may find a powerful ally shortly."

Victoria tilted her head, confused. The only game she'd ever played involving these characters was _Warriors of Orochi 2_; she had no idea what happened in the original canon, let alone actual history. Additionally, she had only ever played as Shu or Samurai characters. Wu and Wei had never struck her as being interesting, and green _was_ her favorite color. "Why couldn't I have been dumped into Shu?" she grumbled. "I'd rather hang out with Liu Bei and Zhao Yun than Sun Quan and Zhou Yu. And why's Quan in charge, anyway? I thought Wu was ruled by Sun Jian."

"Lord Sun Jian is dead, Lady Tori. This battle was partially fought to avenge his death at the hands of Huang Zu," Zuo Ci explained, tying the knot.

"What? Then what about Sun Ce? Wasn't he the eldest son?" she asked, shocked.

"Lord Sun Ce was killed some time ago, assassinated by followers of a man he executed."

Victoria licked her lips, shaken. It hadn't occured to her that people could be dead. "What about the others? Liu Bei still rules Shu, right?"

"He has never ruled Shu. That area is currently under the control of Lord Lui Zhang. Lord Lui Xuande and his brothers are currently wandering fugitives seeking protection from Lord Cao Cao, along with Zhao Zilong and Zhuge Kongming." The disguised sorceror bent to retrieve Victoria's backpack, ignoring her dropped jaw.

"'Xuande'? 'Zilong'? 'Kongming'?" was the next series of question.

"Those are the styles of Liu Bei, Zhao Yun, and Zhuge Liang, a kind of alternate name used by people other than a man's elders. All adult men have one," he explained patiently. His serene expression grew more serious, and he took her arm with a firm grip. "Lady Tori, it sounds as if you know at least part of the future as it pertains to us."

"Didn't I say I was from the future?" she retorted, trying to pull away.

"I would advise you to be very careful with that knowledge. The future is never certain. What is history to you has yet to happen to us."

"So you're telling me to keep my lips zipped?" she challenged.

The dark eyes remained serious. "True diviners are often reluctant to give specific details when they peer into the future, because if someone believes that an outcome is certain, something else may occur in its stead. Overconfidence can ruin even the greatest of men."

Victoria bit her cheek, now extremely nervous as the sorceror's meaning sank in. What if she screwed up history? If she wasn't careful, would this turn out like some bad sci-fi movie, where she wound up destroying the future? She'd have to watch every word she said...

Wait. She had plenty of experience with that, she realized. She had done that every weekday for the past six years, ever since entering the sixth grade. "Sounds a lot like high school," she thought aloud.

"You attended school?" Zuo Ci inquired, beginning to lead her out of the cave.

Victoria shot him a harsh glare, then sighed heavily. Prisoners weren't the only people who enjoyed more rights in her century. Women would be treated as possessions and baby machines at this point in history, not independent human beings.

Stupid Kate!


	2. Let the Confusion Begin

**Summary: **Somewhere between her best friend's car and her house, Victoria got a little lost... How did actual history go again? And why the hell couldn't she have wound up in Shu?

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing but various and assorted DW games and WO2. If only my ownership extended beyond mere copies of said games...

**Queen's Quornor: **I know you're reading this. I can see the hits.

Let the Confusion Begin

It was almost shockingly easy to enter the Wu camp. Once the disguised Zuo Ci led her to a large tent and declared that he had apprehended a suspicious person wandering the battlefield, Victoria had been whisked away to a much smaller tent with two guards posted outside the flap, which was tied shut after she was pushed inside. Now a prisoner in full, the teenager plopped down on the first pile of boxes she saw, glaring around the shaded interior with slitted eyes. This appeared to be a supply tent or something like that, unless soldiers of centuries past enjoyed reclining upon sealed crates and baskets.

There was nothing to do. Her backpack and everything in her pockets had been confiscated as evidence of some sort, so she didn't have her iPod, her PSP, her phone, or even her textbooks to keep herself occupied. She had no idea where Zuo Ci had gone, and she was a little scared by the idea of being completely alone when somebody came to interrogate her. Game character or not, at least the sorceror was someone she knew.

Victoria sighed and idly bumped her heels against box. Her family had to be worried sick by now. Her parents were always more protective of her than of her brothers, and although said brothers often gave her a hard time, they were always the first to help her when she was in trouble.

Another sigh was released. They couldn't rescue her now...and probably never again.

"Quit sighing. It's getting on my nerves!"

For a second there was a span of three inches between her ass and the box. Victoria whipped around to see who had spoken, but her wide eyes couldn't pick out anyone lurking in the gloom. What little sunlight did manage to filter through the light rain was too weak to really illuminate the tent. "Who's there?" she challenged, trying to sound brave. She should have taken drama classes instead of basketball.

"A girl? What the hell did you do to get captured?" The voice was a little rough, but young and high, like a lot of the guys she knew at school.

"I asked you first," she retorted.

Something moved in the shadows, and Victoria was surprised to hear bells gently tinkling. Bells? Hadn't somebody in the game worn bells?

"The army must be nervous, if they're arresting ladies," he mused. "Whatever. I'm the great Gan Ning, lady. Who're you?"

Gan Ning? As in, her brother Christian's favorite character? The shirtless pirate with the spiky hair, the guy her brothers claimed had the best Musou attack in the entire game? That couldn't be right. The Gan Ning in WO2 sounded like he chain-smoked five packs a day, and this man definitely didn't have that gruff quality in his voice.

Still, it would be better to not risk pissing him off by claiming disbelief. Zuo Ci could have been talking about him when he mentioned her getting a powerful new ally. Besides, countless matches lost because of Gan Ning had instilled a healthy amount of respect for him within her.

"My name is Victoria Townsend. My friends call me Tori."

"That's a weird name," came the blunt reply. "Where'd you come from? I've never heard a name like that before."

She blinked. Her name wasn't weird! It wasn't Chinese, that's all. "I'm from--" She stopped herself from saying anything about the future; better save that for Sun Quan and Zhou Yu. "I'm from Harts, West Virginia."

"Where's that?"

"In North America."

He snorted. "Never heard of it."

Of course he hasn't, she thought sarcastically. They don't even know the Atlantic Ocean exists yet, let alone North and South America. Before she could formulate a response, Gan Ning continued.

"Now answer my question. Why are you here?"

Simple question, not-so-simple answer. Victoria decided to tell a little bit of the truth. "I got lost on my way home. I fell down a hill, got confused by the rain, and the next thing I knew I was I prisoner."

"Uh-huh." He didn't sound like he believed her. "You must have been walking for days, girl. Nearest town's pretty far from here, and anybody with half a brain who isn't in the military cleared out long ago. How'd you get lost in the rain if the rain's only lasted since yesterday?"

Victoria shrugged, unable to address the veiled accusation. She turned back around and leaned her arms on her knees, averting her gaze to the ground. "Truth be told, I don't even know how I got here," she said quietly. "I was going home after I had a fight with my best friend. Now I'm a prisoner on a battlefield I've never heard of, talking with people I never thought I'd meet..."

Bells jingled, and Victoria started when somebody sat on the box behind her, resting against her back. Her skin rolled with goosebumps as feathers brushed against her neck and hair. Was somebody else in here? If memory served, Gan Ning didn't have more than one or two feathers, and his were secured in his headband. Besides, he was always shirtless; this guy was wearing armor.

"Don't get so depressed. Once it's proven that you're not a spy, you'll be free to go. Me, I'm planning on staying around. Wu sounds like an interesting place, and Sun Quan supposedly respects his officers. Almost all of Huang Zu's men treated me like some common grunt, even after I saved their asses."

"Well, you _are_ a pirate. People usually don't trust thieves of any kind." It was definitely the new Gan Ning's voice rumbling against her back. Victoria mentally scratched out the shirtless pirate as her visual reference.

"I'm not a pirate anymore," he told her, leaning back so more of his weight rested against her. Victoria was a little surprised by how heavy was. Either he was a big guy, or all that weight was pure muscle. "I left that life after I started reading. Got educated, figured I could get a better life as a somewhat respectable member of society. Army's the only place I can do that. But don't think that means I don't love a good fight!"

"You sound like my oldest brother, Christian," she chuckled. "He was always coming home with a black eye and a bloody nose when I was little. He never started the fights, but he always finished them."

Gan Ning snickered. "I'd probably get along with him. He sounds like somebody I'd want watching my back in a brawl."

"Christian would be fanboying like crazy if he was here instead of me. Wu's his favorite team." As soon as the words were out, Victoria wished she could smack herself. This was history in motion, not a game. Who knew how big a role Gan Ning had played in events to come?

Silence reigned while she visualized kicking her own ass. Then her companion spoke. "What do you mean, 'team'? This isn't some game."

You have no idea, she thought, but kept her mouth shut.

When she failed to answer his question, Gan Ning let out a sigh of his own. "I guess that will be explained when we talk with Sun Quan. Well, Tori, I don't know how long it'll be until we're interrogated, so you might as well get some sleep."

"How? I don't want to get soaked by laying down on the ground."

He snorted. "Just lean against me, and I'll lean against you. We'll keep each other upright."

Victoria glanced at him askance, but couldn't pick out details beyond the feathers and the deep shadows of the tent. With a shrug, she hitched herself closer to him and rested her head against the back of his shoulder. The thick layer of feathers provided a sort of pillow when he stopped shifting. She closed her eyes, lulled by her own exhaustion and the steady rhythm of his breathing.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Wake up!"

Victoria lurched, startled awake by someone roaring in her ear. She blinked rapidly at the torchlight filling the tent, revealing a group of five red-clad soldiers standing in the open flap. It was dark outside, and the rain had finally stopped. The men looked a little awed about something, though far from friendly.

"Lords Sun and Zhou have summoned you," announced the fellow in thicker armor, presumably the group's leader and the man who had so rudely awakened her.

"'Bout time," Gan Ning yawned behind her, getting off the box. Victoria shivered lightly as cool night air replaced the heat of his body. "She hasn't been here too long, but you jerks left me in here since yesterday evening! Aren't prisoners supposed to be allowed a little food or something?"

"Our apologies, but we received no orders as to whether you should be fed or not," the important soldier--Victoria couldn't remember what rank he was supposed to be--replied stiffly. "Now come with us, and show proper respect to our lords."

"I'll expect the same in return," the ex-pirate grumbled.

Standing up, Victoria finally had the opportunity to look at her fellow captive, and her eyes widened slightly at his appearance. Despite knowing that he didn't look the same as the Gan Ning in WO2, a part of her had continued to visualize him that way. The real Gan Ning had tattoos and short, spiky hair like his virtual counterpart, and he definitely had the muscles that made him her brother's favorite, but there the resemblence ended. His dragon tattoos vanished beneath a red-lacquered breastplate and pauldrons, and his hair was bleached to a faded tan shade. The actual color was only visible at the roots, which attested to how much time he spent in the sun. He was kind of handsome, in a rough-and-tumble way, and Victoria couldn't help noticing how plump and inviting his lips were. The bells she had heard before were large globes the size of her fists, hanging from his belt. On anybody else the unorthodox accessories would have seemed ridiculous, but somehow they suited him well. That wasn't just due to the game; they made him stick out even more, drew attention his way and made him remain in peoples' minds. The bells hadn't really done that for _her_, of course, but then again they didn't exactly make a lot of noise in WO2.

"See something you like?" he teased, catching her appraisal.

Victoria felt her face heat and quickly looked away to the soldier tying an additional rope around her bindings. Okay, yes, he was kind of hot. But she wasn't doing herself any favors by staring at him.

It didn't help that he was staring at her, now. "Where'd you say you were from again?" he asked, drawing a curious look from her. "You look like you came from Heaven!"

If his face wasn't so serious, Victoria would have labelled the statement as just another lousy pick-up line. She'd heard a few when she started developing before any of the other girls in her class, though admittedly it had been a few years since she was the attempted pick-up.

"What makes you think that?" she asked, watching his bound wrists get a similar leash.

His first reply consisted of a dry look, the sort that normally conveyed sarcastic disbelief when something obvious was overlooked. "Your hair. Your eyes. Need I go on?"

How many times could she scold herself for stupid stuff today? She had to be close to a record by now. Victoria had forgotten that she was a blonde-haired, blue-eyed teen in a nation of dark-eyed brunettes. Well, that explained why everyone was giving her funny looks.

The magnetic attraction of eyes continued as the prisoners were led across the camp. The light of crackling fires and the occasional torch, including those carried by the guards, glinted off her messy mane, which in turn caught everyone's attention. Victoria had always heard that she had "princess hair," but right now she cursed her parents for giving her their golden locks. She was already out of her depth, and people were staring at her. Just another miserable addition to a very weird day.

The Wu camp was little more than a collection of tents, fires, the occasional wagon, and lots of armored men. Most had removed their armor to relax and eat, but a few slowly paced between the makeshift shelters with spears in hand. Victoria was a little confused by their caution, given that the battle was over. Did they expect an attack or something?

She ducked her head to avoid the stares, keeping her eyes on the leash pulling her along while her mind raced. What would she say to Sun Quan and Zhou Yu? They had probably gone through her backpack already, and knew she wasn't exactly a native of the area. How had they reacted to her electronics? Would they think she was a witch or something? Zhou Yu was supposed to be some kind of genius--would he realize that she was from the future?

Was she about to die?

Victoria's gut clamped painfully at the thought. Could there be a more terrifying end to this day? She would die alone and lost, completely unmourned. Her family would never realize what had happened to her, and the two people she had met would forget her the moment she was gone. Even worse, there wasn't really a way she could escape that fate, if they did decide to kill her. She was utterly dependent on the good will of two men she knew almost nothing about.

She willed the forming tears away and raised her head defiantly. No matter what, she wouldn't let them condemn her as just another weak little female. Whether they figured it out or not, she would show them that women of the twenty-first century were a far cry from the cowed housewives of this age.

The guards led them to the same large tent where Zuo Ci had first brought her. Victoria peered at the two soldiers standing outside the entrance, but neither of them resembled the sorceror's disguise. Unless he was inside or had turned into somebody else, Zuo Ci had apparently abandoned her. Her lips involuntarily pursed; it just figured.

The tent flap was pulled aside, and Victoria was tugged inside. Gan Ning was treated with slightly more respect, which didn't really surprise her. He had defected of his own free will, not been captured on the battlefield. He glanced at her before she was forced to her knees.

Two men emerged from another part of the tent, and Victoria eyed them with some increduality. One was too handsome to be anybody other than Zhou Yu, although his long hair had been pulled into a high ponytail and his clothes were now tailored to fit his slender body, as opposed to the baggy attire he wore in the game. He was more effiminate than she would have guessed, but still exuded a quiet strength that dashed any thoughts of questionable sexuality. If he went to my school, Victoria thought, the girls would dogpile him the moment he set foot in the door.

His companion was a bit more confusing. She almost labelled him as Sun Ce before she remembered that particular pony-tailed hotshot was supposed to be dead. Then she noticed the thick eyebrows. For some reason, she had always fixated upon Sun Quan's eyebrows as his most recognizable feature.

Looking at the chiseled pecs gleaming in the candlelight, Victoria decided she liked this Sun Quan a lot more than his virtual self.

"My lord, we have brought the prisoners, as you requested," the lead soldier informed them, bowing low. When the leader of Wu gestured, they scurried from the tent, which surprised Victoria. Weren't they supposed to stay in here and keep their leaders safe from the prisoners, or something like that?

Sun Quan approached Gan Ning and quickly undid the knots securing his wrists. "I was stunned when you surrendered to us, but I am grateful. You wish to serve me as an officer, right?"

"That's right." Gan Ning rolled his wrists a few times, working out the stiffness. "As long as I get a little respect, and I get to help you rough up your enemies, I'll do whatever you want."

"That's good. We've already seen your abilities; we can use more men like you." Sun Quan folded his arms and nodded. "Welcome to Wu, Gan Ning. I'll have men fix you a tent as soon as possible."

"Thanks, Lord Sun. With me around, your enemies don't stand a chance!" The ex-pirate started to swagger out of the tent, but was brought up short by Zhou Yu's quiet voice.

"I'd suggest you take care, Gan Ning. One of our officers, Ling Tong, has developed a thirst for your blood."

"Lemme guess. I got someone important to him, right?" His voice was steady, but Victoria thought she heard a hint of resignation in the question.

"His father, Ling Cao," the strategist replied.

Gan Ning's back was ramrod-stiff, the only outward sign that anything serious was going through his mind. "I've killed a lot of people," he finally stated, with no trace of emotion. "I can take care of myself." With that he walked away, his gait less jaunty than before. Victoria watched him, unsure what to think. The game had never presented Gan Ning as anything beyond a cocky, hot-tempered scrapper. Not once had it hinted that he might feel some remorse for the lives he had taken.

"Now what are we to do with you?" Victoria was startled from her reverie by Sun Quan's voice booming above her, and she quickly looked up to see him standing a few feet in front of her.

"Perhaps we should begin with her personal information," Zhou Yu suggested. "What is your name?"

Easy enough. "Victoria Townsend."

"That's an unusual name. Where did you come from, Lady Victoria?"

Now the tough stuff. "Harts, West Virginia. That's in the United States of America," she helpfully supplied. They weren't going to believe her no matter what she said, so why not tell the truth? Honesty was the best policy, if her mother was to be believed. Besides, telling them where she came from wasn't the sort of thing that would stop history in its tracks...right?

Glances were exchanged. "Where is that?" Sun Quan asked, eyeing her skeptically.

"Across the ocean, on a continent that won't be officially discovered until 1492." Victoria watched in amusement as Sun Quan's eyebrows vanished behind his bangs.

"How did you get here?" Zhou Yu asked, surprisingly unfazed by her revelations.

"I wish I knew. I was just walking home in the rain, and now I'm here." She shrugged. "Needless to say, this hasn't been one of my better days."

The two lords looked at each other, then Zhou Yu stooped to retrieve her backpack from the corner of the tent. "You have some very unusual effects, Lady Victoria," he began, carrying the bag to a table where a cloth map had been tacked open. "Would you care to explain them to us?"

"I'd be happy to." She was led to the table, and Sun Quan joined his strategist on the opposite side. Zhou Yu unzipped the backpack, and pulled out her iPod and headphones. "That's an iPod. It plays music and videos."

The strategist tilted it sideways, examining it blankly. "How do you use it?"

"Put the headphones on your ears, and press the button in the center. You have to put that...that...band-thingy over your head, not around your neck," she explained when he started to put the headphones around his neck. He followed her instructions, albeit with a little hesitation, and both he and Sun Quan flinched away when the screen lit up. "Now if you press the bottom part of the selection wheel, it will start playing. The volume can be adjusted by circling your thumb around the the wheel."

She didn't remember what song had been cued up when she had last used it, but Zhou Yu wore an expression of total shock. His eyes seemed to grow twice their size, and then the look transformed into one of wonder. "It is music. Music unlike any I've ever..." His eyes flicked to Victoria. "How?"

"I'm not really sure. It's like a portable music library, where thousands of songs can be stored and accessed at a moment's notice. It's all downloaded from a network called the Internet, and put into the iPod. Everybody's iPod is different, because everybody has different tastes in music." She nodded at it, resigned. "It's not going to last forever. An iPod needs a computer to recharge and keep working. You guys haven't even discovered electricity yet."

Zhou Yu passed the item to his lord, who hurridly slipped the headphones over his ears. "It's magic!" he breathed, listening intently.

"No, it's technology, vintage 2009."

The men froze, as predicted. "You are from...the _year _2009?" Sun Quan repeated.

Victoria nodded. "Actually, 2010. I'm not sure what year this is, but I'm pretty sure there's more than a thousand years between then and now." She paused, then plunged ahead. "Before you ask, I don't know much about Asian history. I don't know jack about what's going to happen with you guys and Cao Cao, so I can't tell you who's going to win what. Even if I did, it probably wouldn't be a good idea to share tidings of your future--it might cause some disruption in the space/time continuum and change history as I know it."

Accumulating stares seemed to be a new hobby for her. "But you know about Cao Cao," Zhou Yu pointed out.

"Only because of a game. You guys, and a whole mess of other people from this era, are characters in a series of video games. I haven't played that series, but I have played a spin-off that throws you all together with Japanese heroes from another point in history." Victoria shrugged in the face of their increduality. "I know it sounds crazy. But it's the truth."

"Before we decide whether we believe you or not, tell us what a video game is," Sun Quan ordered.

"Do you see that black shiny thing on top of the books in there? Pull it out and push the switch on the right side."

When the lord of Wu followed her instructions, he dropped the PSP as if it burned him the moment it chimed to life. Zhou Yu leaned over his shoulder to stare down at the device while the opening sequence for _Crisis Core_ began playing, the volume high enough for Victoria to hear. She fought the urge to fidget, nervously awaiting their judgment.

"Who are these men? How did you trap them?" Sun Quan demanded.

She snorted. "I didn't trap anyone. Those guys are fictional characters, who only exist within the game. People wrote the story, voiced the characters, and used technology to turn it all into a game anybody can buy and play. That PSP runs on electricity, too. Magic doesn't exist in my world."

"So these are common in your time? Available to anyone?" Zhou Yu asked.

"If you've got the money, you can get one," she affirmed.

The two lords looked at her for a time, then began removing her books and binders from the backpack, laying them on the table. "What are these books about? The language is unknown to us."

"Those are all textbooks for my classes. There's geometry, natural science, history, and English," she told them, pointing to each one. "The binders have all my notes and papers for those classes."

"Women receive education?" Sun Quan asked, flipping open her science notes.

Victoria bristled. "Of course women receive education! Everybody's required to go to school until they turn seventeen, unless they drop out. That's not even including college, and that's open to girls too! Women aren't stupid, you know."

Once she realized what she had just said, and to _whom_, she flushed and stared down at the map. Women didn't talk to men like that here, right? What would they do to her for back-talking to a lord?

"I am sorry that I offended you." The apology took her completely by surprise, causing her to lift her head and meet Sun Quan's jade eyes. His pride was obvious, but also in evidence was remorse. "I spoke without thinking."

Victoria shrugged, figuring it was better to get along with the man if she wanted to keep her head. Women's rights would just have to wait. "I forgive you. I've just heard enough about women from male chauvanistic pigs, that's all."

"Some things do not change," Zhou Yu said. He was leafing through her history book, examining the pictures. "Suppose we do believe your story. What do you believe we should do with you?"

"I'm your prisoner. Do I really have an opinion?" she retorted, holding up her wrists for emhasis.

Sun Quan laughed. "You have spirit, and you think. Such a woman does not deserve to be a prisoner!"

"So does that mean I'm free to go?" she asked hopefully. Maybe she could find a way to join up with Liu Bei...

"Not exactly," Zhou Yu cut in. He put her book down and looked at her, his dark eyes calculating. "It would be irresponsible to simply let you go. You are unfamiliar with the ways of our land. If you were to say or do the wrong thing to the wrong person, who would protect you?"

Victoria was quiet. He did have a good point, although this sounded more akin to voluntary captivity than anything else.

"I also believe you can be of some use to us." Zhou Yu came to her, and Victoria flinched slightly as his gloved hand reached for her; her cheeks heated when it stroked gently over her hair. "You wear the colors of Heaven, and superstition is a powerful motivator. You could be intrepreted as heavenly favor made real."

"I'm not sure if I should consider that blasphemous or not," Victoria grumbled. "Does it count if you don't believe in God?"

The looks she received made it clear that she should probably keep her stance on religion to herself.

"We won't say that you came from Heaven," the strategist clarified. "We need only hint at the possibility, and rumors will become truth. Thus we cannot admit that we spread untruths if confronted, but we also will be unable to deny the rumors, because your origins are so mysterious. You will remain enigmatic and appealing because you are so unusual."

Sun Quan gave her an appraising look, and his lips curled in a sly smile. "Belief can tip the scales in our favor. I think we can use a woman of your appearance in this army."

"She can certainly use a place to stay, and teachers who can educate her in our ways," Zhou Yu added.

"What do you think, Lady Victoria?" Sun Quan asked, arching a brow.

Victoria looked at the two men, then at her bound wrists, then back at her captors. She shrugged. "No choice, I guess."


	3. Banter With BellBoy

**Summary: **Somewhere between her best friend's car and her house, Victoria got a little lost... How did actual history go again? And why the hell couldn't she have wound up in Shu?

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing but various and assorted DW games and WO2. If only my ownership extended beyond mere copies of said games...

**Queen's Quornor: **Okay, I know this story's subgenre isn't exactly original. But seriously, can I get a little feedback? Help me spot where I need to improve, please.

Banter

What a weird day this had been. Victoria had been through a car-fight with her best friend, an inexplicable trip through time into ancient China, a little brain rewiring so she spoke and understood Chinese, incarceration with Gan Ning, and a showcase of modern items and concepts to people she only knew from a video game. Now she was supposed to pretend she was some portent of heavenly favor. It was like something out of a bad sci-fi flick, the sort of thing Victoria would have labelled as complete bullshit if she had been forced to watch it. This kind of thing wasn't supposed to happen.

So why the hell was it happening to her?

Victoria had been told that she would be staying in Sun Quan's home, near the officer's quarters. In theory, the living arrangements were for her own protection and to add weight to the rumors Zhou Yu would be seeding throughout the camp. However, she couldn't shake the feeling that they were keeping her so close to Sun Quan because he had the best security, and she would find it ten times more difficult to escape. Nobody would hurt her, but she wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon, either.

Gan Ning was waiting outside the tent, playing with one of his daggers, when Victoria was released. He offered her a grin when he saw her. "So what're they doing with you?" he greeted.

Victoria shrugged, deciding not to comment on his use of twin daggers instead of that big curved sword she was so used to seeing him use. "I'm supposed to be an angel or something, basically a human trophy,"

"Guess that means you'll be coming along to battle, then."

The comment caused an effect similar to a record scratch in her brain. "Wha-what? I can't go to any battles! I don't know the first thing about fighting!"

Gan Ning chuckled and slung an arm across her shoulders, yanking her in close. Victoria wrinkled her nose at the scent of sweat and unwashed man, maybe with a hint of blood. If everybody was going to smell like this, she was going to mourn basic hygiene the most. "I figured as much. How about I teach you to fight? I can't promise I'll go easy on you, but there's no better brawler than me!"

"I know how to punch and kick. It's just that I've never used a weapon before," she explained, stumbling when he started walking away from the tent.

"We can figure out which weapon is best for you , then. By the time I'm through with you, Tori, you'll have earned the right to wear some bells of your own!" He knuckled her head roughly, making her squeal in protest. "'Till then, I'll look after you. You got nothing to worry about with the great Gan Ning as your bodyguard!"

"That's assuming I can even keep up with you," she said dryly.

He laughed, the sound short and sharp. At least some things hadn't changed, Victoria noted with a wry smirk. "Normally I'd tell you that keeping up is the only way you'll live, but I'll stick with you, just because you're cute."

She stumbled again, this time from shock. Gan Ning thought she was _cute? _Maybe all the day's surprises were affecting her hearing or something. Her self-appointed bodyguard didn't notice her mis-step; he merely pulled her along as if nothing had happened. "So where are we going?" she finally thought to ask.

"To scrounge up some dinner. Dunno about you, but those horses are starting to look awfully appetizing. You'd think somebody would have thought to feed us," he grumbled.

"I guess they figured it was better not to waste the rice."

He snorted. "Maybe you're right. But let me tell you, I'm getting a little tired of rice alone."

"That's all they'll give us?" Somehow she had thought army rations would consist of something a bit more nutritional than just rice.

"Unless I get lucky and shoot a bird or something, that's all we'll get until we get to Jian Ye." He glanced down at her and flashed his cocky grin. "Tomorrow, I think I'll see about getting us some meat. I can't steal chickens anymore, but nobody owns ducks or pheasants."

Victoria tried to envision Gan Ning shooting a bow, but she just couldn't see it. They were nearing a wagon now, with a large pot suspended over a fire, steaming into the night. A few soldiers were milling about, but no more than a dozen. They all glanced up at their approach, forewarned when Gan Ning stepped especially hard and rolled his hips a little, causing his bells to ring loudly. Victoria felt her cheeks flush, but he seemed unaffected by the stares. Show-off, she thought.

The attention predictably shifted to her within moments, with one exception. On the far side of the fire sat a lanky teenager with long brown hair pulled back in a high ponytail, holding a steaming bowl. His hunched body radiated sorrow and a certain brooding aura that guaranteed him a measure of solitude from his fellows. His dark eyes were fixed on Gan Ning.

Victoria tried not to stare as she followed her companion to the man dishing out food. Something about him stirred recognition, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it...

"Is your hair really gold?" the apparent cook asked, his voice hushed.

"Yeah, it's natural," she absently replied. Gan Ning unslung his arm and took both of the bowls.

"Let's eat over there." He nodded to a spot near another fire, away from the glaring teen. Victoria shrugged and trailed after him, glancing back at their audience a few times. The teenager got up from his patch of grass and shoved his own bowl at the cook before storming off in the opposite direction, his fists curled tight at his sides.

"Who was that?" she asked quietly when Gan Ning settled by the fire.

He shrugged and gave her one of the bowls. "Somebody with an axe to grind. He's not the first enemy I've made, and he won't be the last. Comes with the job." He started eating, and she followed suit. For a time they did not speak, too absorbed in their meal and the hissing flames. Then Gan Ning spoke up. "Are you really from the future, Tori?"

Victoria nearly choked. "You were listening?"

"I got curious. Nobody wears clothes like this." He plucked at her t-shirt in emphasis and she bit her lip. Denim and cotton hadn't been invented yet, and neither had rubber. Here she'd thought the only reason they were staring was her hair.

"Yeah. I'm from the year 2010."

He let out a low whistle. "You've come a good distance. How the hell did you get here?"

"I don't know." How many times would she have to answer that question? "Like I told you before, I had a fight with my best friend over my ex-boyfriend, whom she stole, and somewhere between her car and my house I ended up in ancient China." She put her bowl down and drew up her knees, wrapping her arms beneath her thighs. "My parents are probably beside themselves, my brothers will be going crazy, and I'll bet Kate thinks I got snatched by some pervert and wound up dead in a ditch somewhere. This kind of thing only happens in stories and movies; nobody would dream that I got lost in time."

Her chin rested atop her knees as she realized exactly how alone she really was. What year was this? Did the Silk Road exist? Marco Polo probably hadn't come here yet. Victoria remembered a television program about some ancient Caucasian skeletons that archeologists had discovered in China--were her own bones among them, or were they older then that?

Gan Ning was watching her, his eyes sympathetic. "At least one person knows where you are, Tori, even if your family doesn't."

"Who?" she asked, giving him a puzzled look.

"You." He rubbed her back soothingly. "Believe me, things are a lot worse when you have no idea where the hell you are."

Victoria snorted a laugh, appreciative of his attempt to comfort her in spite of her self-pity. "You know, you're not quite what I was expecting."

"So what were you expecting?" he coaxed, leaning back on his hands.

"The video game I was talking about has you as this cocky asshole who doesn't seem all that smart. You run around shirtless with red hair and this really big sword, and your voice is a lot gruffer." She gave him a sly look, visually tracing the lines of his tattoos. "You still have your bells and ink, though."

"Least they got some things right," he chortled. "I know I'm pretty brash, but I wouldn't have lasted this long if I was dumb. As for the shirtless bit, what kind of idiot goes into battle without some sort of armor? I don't have a death wish."

She laughed with him--she'd never seen the point of that, either. "Why do you wear those bells, anyway? I thought you specialized in sneak attacks."

He snorted. "They're sort of a memento. I started this gang when I was younger, and we all made life pretty difficult for people in our province. We all wore bells, but I'm the one people associated with 'em. When they heard the bells ring, they either ran for cover, or invited us in for dinner." He flicked one of the spheres on his belt, smirking at its soft jingle. "It worked for intimidation, so I kept 'em. I figured out how to move so they don't give me away; it's always fun to see the look on people's faces when I let the bells ring right before killing them."

"How candidly you speak of murder," Victoria observed cynically, her gaze falling to his daggers.

"It isn't murder if it's a battle," he shot back. "I love a good fight, but I don't really like killing people. It's my job, not my hobby."

The affronted look he gave her was chastisement enough, in Victoria's opinion. "Sorry, man. I'm just..."

"Wars don't happen in your time, huh?"

"Oh, they happen, all right. It's just that a war hasn't happened in the USA since...the 1860s, I think," she said. "The other thing is that wars are fought differently. Nobody uses swords, spears, horses, or bows anymore."

He looked skeptical. "Then what do they use?"

She shook her head. "You don't wanna know."

He tried to wheedle the information out of her, but Victora stubbornly ignored him until he finally gave up. Nobody here needed to know that, in her time, hundreds of people could be killed from almost any distance, at the touch of a button. Was it better to see, to interact with your victims before taking their lives, or to never see them at all? Which was worse?

"So I'm going to have to go to battle?" she aked, more for clarification than anything.

Gan Ning nodded,. "If they're serious about using you to justify their campaigns, you'll have to tag along. Soldiers might not fight as hard if they think the battle's contrary to Heaven's Mandate. If you're there, then Heaven smiles upon Wu." He rolled his eyes, making her giggle.

"I just...I don't want to kill anyone," she confessed, staring into the fire. "It's fine in video games, 'cause they aren't real. They're just 3D pictures that you can whack away at as long as you want. They don't feel any pain, and they'll be there every time you play. It's all fake, purely for entertainment.

"But this isn't a game. People like Sun Ce and his dad are dead and gone--they're not going to magically appear just because I want to see them. If I make a mistake, I can't go back to the last save and choose another option. People are going to stay dead, and lives are going to be affected because of that." She felt her throat close, and fought the urge to cry. A tough guy like Gan Ning didn't need to see her cry. "How am I supposed to do this?" she asked plaintively.

Gan Ning wrapped his arm around her, leaning her body against his side. "You don't think about it," he advised. "Just remember that the other guy is trying to kill you, and there's a good chance he won't stop unless you get him first. If you look at it like self-defense, it's easier."

"Does that help the guilt, or the fear?" It was amazing how quickly she could get used to the way he smelled.

"A little. You learn to use the fear--it helps you fight harder--but you can't think about your enemy as a person. That's as good as poison in a fight. If you've been around a while like me, and you start thinking about all the blood on your hands, you're just asking to go mad." He sighed and squeezed her shoulder. "That's why people are so different on the battlefield, and principles are usually thrown out the door. You have to stop feeling and become this heartless beast, or you're as good as dead even if you aren't killed."

"I guess so," Victoria mumbled. Post-traumatic stress disorder hadn't been identified yet, but that didn't mean it didn't exist here. People had to cope somehow. She looked up at her leaning post, considering his unexpected wisdom. "When did you get so easy to talk to?"

"The moment I became real," he replied, smiling.


	4. Breaking the Ice

**Summary: **Somewhere between her best friend's car and her house, Victoria got a little lost... How did actual history go again? And why the hell couldn't she have wound up in Shu?

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing but various and assorted DW games and WO2. If only my ownership extended beyond mere copies of said games...

**Queen's Quornor: **Well, I appreciate the reviews and points made thus far, but I feel a need to address one thing. I realize that the Chinese of this period knew about other ethnic groups, but I already pointed out that I'm mixing the games' canon with real history and the events of ROTK. I doubt that the real versions of certain characters possessed white or yellow hair (why is DW6 Yuan Shao blond, anyway? There's too much yellow for him to be sun-bleached like Gan Ning, and it's not all grey), and unless I'm seriously forgetting something most indigenious peoples of the Middle-East, where the Silk Road ended, are brunettes. That would have been especially true back in the third century, even with the Roman Empire in control. So despite the trade routes and everything, I doubt most Chinese of the day had seen Caucasians. I'm glad that was pointed out, but I wanted to explain why I chose to have them all reacting to Tori this way.

Breaking the Ice

The trip to Wu was as long and tedious as Victoria had thought. She got to ride one of the captured horses, because she was a woman, and had to stick with Sun Quan and Zhou Yu during the day. The army already buzzed with gossip about the golden-haired, sky-eyed, strangely attired lady who had mysteriously appeared on the battlefield, and Victoria had quickly learned to ignore the awe-struck stares she received throughout the day.

Gan Ning rode at the front of the column with a couple other officers, leaving her with few people to talk to. Zhou Yu had confiscated her iPod and listened to it whenever they stopped to make camp, and Sun Quan was making her read her textbooks to him. Victoria had her cell phone and her PSP, but the former was practically useless--she had opened it up after getting her backpack back, just to make sure she wasn't dreaming, and had been totally unsurprised by the "No Service" message when she tried to call her family. Every night she opened her photo file and cycled through the shots, driving herself nearly to tears before going to sleep. There wasn't much juice left in the phone now.

She was slowly learning the names of various officers, which was difficult because she had almost no virtual references for them, with one exception. The angry teenager who had caught her attention her first night in China had been identified as Ling Tong, whom she had kicked herself for not recognizing--he had been one of Christian's favorites characters--after they were introduced. He was possessed of a biting sarcasm and sharp wit, when he decided to open his mouth. For some reason Zhou Yu had assigned him to ride next to her, perhaps to provide protection on the road. Victoria was a little intimidated by his aura of unpleasantness, so she usually didn't try to talk to him.

Ling Tong did fascinate her, though. He tended to make himself scarce when they stopped to camp and Gan Ning came to join her, and Victoria wouldn't see him until morning. She wasn't oblivious, and she was becoming increasingly more curious about what made Ling Tong hate her friend so much. WO2 didn't have any clues that she remembered, and if anything had been said about it the reason had slipped her mind.

It didn't help that the teenager was so good-looking. He wasn't as shabby as she recalled, and his smooth face had a youthful appearance she found very appealing, to say nothing of that adorable mole of his. He looked more alert, more emotional--not at all like the sleepy fighter her brother favored. A part of Victoria wanted to reach out to him, try and help him with the anger that consumned him, but she was wary of his icy demeanor.

The army had left Jing and entered Wu when the ice finally cracked.

Victoria had been walking around the camp, too energetic for sleep. It was a clear night and most of the men were asleep, including Gan Ning, who occupied the tent next to her own. Since the soldiers thought she was some kind of angel, and she was under the protection of both Gan Ning and Sun Quan, she felt safe enough to try and work off her insomnia.

She noticed the way the sentries reacted whenever she passed by, and it amused her to no end. To a man, they would stand a little straighter with their chests puffed out, peering into the night with sharper eyes than before. Either they were trying to impress her, or they didn't want "Heaven's Messenger" to think them unworthy slackers. Victoria snickered, and moved past the out-lying tents. The horses had been picketed a short distance from the camp, positioned closer to Wu than the men so they had the space to graze, yet remained protected. Victoria made her way towards them, thinking to just watch them until she felt sleepy.

Many of the horses lay on the grass, asleep, occasionally snorting in the midst of some dream; Victoria thought of it as equine snoring. The few that remained awake cropped delicately at the grass, confined to a circle dictated by the length of their rope. Her horse, a bay gelding she had dubbed Hasufel, looked up and nickered as she approached.

Victoria smiled and shook her head, not wanting to disturb the other horses. Hasufel tugged at his rope for a bit, eager for a scratch, then gave up and returned to his midnight snack. He turned to get a choice tuft of grass, affording her a glimpse of someone laying in the field. Surprised, Victoria edged around and realized it was Ling Tong. He was laying with his head against his horse's stomach, staring up at the sky.

Why was he here? she wondered. Was this where he went every night? Before she could stop herself, she was already walking towards him.

When he noticed her, he scowled. "What do you want?"

"Well, I'm trying to beat my insomnia, and I'm curious what you're doing here." She crossed her arms, protecting herself from his irritation. "I know I probably shouldn't be, but I worry about you."

"Sure you do." He rolled his eyes.

She shook her head, trying to be patient. "What is your problem? It's not like I've done anything to you. I've tried to be nice, and you've been a total jerk."

"Well excuse me if I'm not acting like your best friend or something," he sneered. "Just so you know, it's not you I've got the problem with. I just don't feel like being nice right now."

"So what's your problem with Gan Ning, then? You've made it pretty obvious that you hate his guts."

"That's none of your business," he snapped, glaring at her.

Victoria met his eyes. "I'm making it my business. You guys are just like my brothers, though you've got a hell of a lot more self-control. How are you supposed to focus on your enemy if you're too busy hating one of your allies?"

Ling Tong sat up, digging his fingers into the earth. "How could I not hate him?" he snarled, his voice low and thick. "You want to know what your friend did that has me so upset? Fine. I'll tell you. That bastard killed my father!"

Victoria inhaled sharply. How the hell had she forgotten that?

He was looking at her with hooded eyes, visibly resentful that she had seen him this way. But Victoria thought she saw a hint of vulnerability in his posture, like a part of him was asking for help even while he wished her gone. She sat down at his feet, careful to check that she was clear of any road apples first.

"Your hands are tied, aren't they? You can't kill him because he's a fellow officer of Wu now," she said quietly.

"You have no idea how much I loved my father," he told her, averting his gaze to the ground. "My mother died when I was very young, and he was the only family I had. I found out he was gone after his men brought his body back; they're the ones who told me who killed him. I couldn't find him on the battlefield, Tori! That was my only shot at avenging my father, and I couldn't do it!"

She just listened, feeling a sudden kinship with him. In a way, he was as alone as she was. Besides, he had just called her by her nickname, for once. That had to be a good thing, right? "You know, I kind of understand the way you feel," she began.

"You couldn't begin to understand!"

Victoria glared at him. "Don't interrupt me when I'm talking, dude. My family's still alive, as far as I know, but I'm probably never going to see them again. They're as good as dead to me. Even worse, there aren't any people like me around here. I'm American, not Chinese.

"But do you see me crying about it? No! I told myself that railing against the world and drowning in self-pity was pointless, and I decided to try and make my own family to replace the one I've lost. If someone like me, a woman, can get over losing everything she's ever known and loved, why the hell can't a man like you?"

Victoria had never made any such vow. She was just trying to break him out of his stew. But once it was said, she realized that maybe she should follow her own advice.

As for Ling Tong, he just stared at her, his face unreadable. Had he bought it?  
"You make it sound so easy," he finally said. "But I can't move on, not until Gan Ning pays for what he did."

"Do you want to be executed as a murderer? If you kill him, you'll be the one paying for it. Would your father want you to die because you avenged him?" she demanded. "I don't know jack about your dad, but I can't imagine that he'd want that for you."

When he looked away, she knew she'd nailed it. "I'm not saying that you should be best buds with him. But things will probably go a lot smoother if you'd stop pushing everyone away when they try to help you. Grief should never be handled alone."

"And you're offering to be my shoulder, right?" he sneered, albeit less harshly than before.

She stood up. "If you want me to be, then yes."

Victoria started away, still not tired but willing to try and sleep again. Long after she crossed the perimeter and vanished between the tents, she felt his dark eyes upon her back.


	5. Princess Tomboy

**Summary: **Somewhere between her best friend's car and her house, Victoria got a little lost... How did actual history go again? And why the hell couldn't she have wound up in Shu?

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing but various and assorted DW games and WO2. If only my ownership extended beyond mere copies of said games...

**Queen's Quornor:** Yeah, it's been a few weeks. But between beta-reading and graduation, I've been kinda strapped for spare time. Plus, I need a job now, and this nifty little diploma of mine has been kinda worthless thus far. A good college education does not initially pay for itself, dammit.

Princess Tomboy

"This is where you'll be staying, Lady Tori." The handmaiden bowed and pushed open the door, allowing Victoria to enter a small room. She looked around, noting how spartan the place was. All she had in the way of furniture was a pile of blankets atop a plush mat, a chest of drawers, and a folding screen. There was a window and some floor mats, but the walls were devoid of any decoration.

"Nice and homey, isn't it?" she commented, dropping her backpack on the floor. "Kinda like a college dorm."

The maid did not reply to the teenager's snark. "Do you have any more belongings, Lady?"

Victoria snorted. "I don't have any other clothes, if that's what you mean." She had been wearing the same jeans and t-shirt since her arrival back in Xia Kou; it wouldn't surprise her if, when she took them off, they walked away by themselves. But at least she wasn't unique in this situation-almost none of the men, officers and soldiers alike, had been able to change or wash their clothes on the road. It had been a shock to her, because she had been under the impression that the great heroes of yesteryear did not walk around in their own filth. Her nose had somehow managed to adjust to the miasma of body odor and sweat, but she had no idea how the people who greeted them upon their return managed to keep their eyes from watering.

"No clothes? Well, that's going to be fixed. Brother Quan can't expect you to wear the same thing for the rest of your life."

Victoria turned, trying to see the owner of the high, girlish voice. Standing in the door behind the maid was a skinny young woman with short, wild brown hair. She seemed to be more legs than actual body, and that trait was emphasized by an extremely short skirt, a belly shirt, and high boots. Her unusual attire was almost blindingly bright, definitely not what Victoria thought the average lady would wear.

"Lady Shang Xiang!" The maid quickly bowed, even lower than the one she had given Victoria. "Forgive me. I did not see your approach."

"It's okay." Shang Xiang waved off the apology with a smile, while Victoria tried to accept this vivid girl instead of the serious tomboy she remembered. The game designers had really gotten her wrong in WO2, even moreso than the other characters! "Hello, I'm Sun Shang Xiang. Welcome to Wu." This was said to Victoria with a brilliant grin.

"Uh, hi. I'm Victoria Townsend, though I prefer Tori," she replied. "Nice to meet you."

"The pleasure's all mine. There aren't too many women living here, aside from the servants. It's nice to see a new girl moving in."

"I guess." Victoria shrugged, a little unsure of her sunny personality. "Somebody just decided I would stay here, since I have nowhere else to go."

She nodded wisely. "Brother Quan told me a few things about you. You need to stay here so we can teach you how to live like us."

Victoria shrugged again. "Who's going to teach me?"

Shang Xiang shooed the maid away, telling her to go clean stuff in her room. When the woman was gone, she closed the door and turned back to Victoria. "Only officers. Tori, most of the people think you're some angelic being, and they expect you to know how to live like us. Only a few of us are going to help you learn everything. Gan Ning's volunteered to be your fighting instructor, Zhou Yu is going to tutor you in tactics and current events, and I'm supposed to teach you how to be a lady." She put her hands on her hips. "That includes everything from dressing and proper manners to navigating our home. None of the men want to show you where the latrine is, the big sissies."

Victoria snickered. "They don't want to delve deeper into the feminine mystique, I see."

"Oh, they're interested in delving. They just don't want to know too much." Shang Xiang gave her a conspiratory grin. "Anyways, I get to teach you all that stuff. To make it better, I can tell you a lot about the men."

Sun Shang Xiang, gossping? "You know, you're not quite what I expected."

The spunky girl offered her a shrug. "Do you think I actually get to fight all the time? I get to go to battle every once in a while, as a daughter of the Sun family, but Quan doesn't let me go in most cases. Pretty much the only things I get to do are sing, dance, gossip, and practice archery."

Victoria shook her head. Singing and dancing was not something she had ever associated with this particular character, and she wasn't sure how to take the idea of archery rather than those chakrams she recalled. "Maybe you'll get more time on the battlefield once I start gracing the army with my divine favor," she drawled, rolling her eyes.

"That depends on Quan." Shang Xiang opened the door again. "Well, are you ready for the town?"

"Well..." She didn't actually want to leave the palace and get gawked at again.

Her reluctance was obviously discerned. "Tell you what. It's been a long day, and I bet you want a bath and some food. How about I show you around Jian Ye tomorrow?"

"That would be great! A bath would be heavenly right now." It was sad that she could feel herself salivating at the thought of a good bath. Even real food didn't sound as important as being clean again.

Shang Xiang giggled and nodded. "I'll tell the servants to get one ready for you, then. I'll come get you when dinner's ready, okay? We're having a few guests tonight, to celebrate our victory in Xia Kou."

"What am I supposed to wear?" Victoria asked. No matter how unique they were, she was _not _wearing her own clothes to some fancy get-together. Torn jeans, muddy Nikes, and a black Guns N' Roses band shirt did not, under any circumstances, qualify as formal wear.

"I'll have Gong Mei get some things for you before dinner. You look like you're about my mother's size, so some of her dresses might serve for now."

"Dumb question. Who's Gong Mei?"

"She's your handmaiden, the woman who just left." Shang Xiang smiled-it seemed like she was always smiling. "Gong Mei's new to the staff, but she's been reliable, discreet, and she uses her brains. I'm sure she can find something in my mother's wardrobe that will look good on you."

"Don't ask me for any fashion advice. I usually prefer 'comfortable' to 'fashionable' when it comes to clothes," Victoria deadpanned, holding up her hands.

"Then we'll just leave that to her," the younger girl decided. "I'll go do something about that bath, now. See you at dinner!"

Victoria just waved, a little dazed by the sheer energy of Sun Quan's kid sister. What was Shang Xiang doing here, anyway? If memory served, she was supposed to be married to Liu Bei...

The lightbulb popped on above her head. If Shang Xiang hadn't been married off yet, then it would happen in the future, presumably. And when it did, she'd be sent to join Liu Bei in Shu or wherever he happened to be at the time. Maybe, if Victoria played this right, she could be sent along with the Sun girl as some portent of good fortune for the union. Then she might have an opportunity to slip away and stay in Shu!

Giddy with girlish glee, Victoria set about unpacking her backpack, unaware of the silhouette looming in her doorway.


	6. Warming Up

**Summary: **Somewhere between her best friend's car and her house, Victoria got a little lost... How did actual history go again? And why the hell couldn't she have wound up in Shu?

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing but various and assorted DW games and WO2. If only my ownership extended beyond mere copies of said games... And will someone please explain to me why Koei thought making Samurai Warriors 3 a Wii exclusive was a good idea? Us Playstation owners want some love, too!

**Queen's Quornor:** Been awhile, I know. I've been doing some research trying to figure some stuff out for this fic, and trying to find a job. If only that part was as easy as certain individuals and agencies would have you believe.

Warming Up

"So what do you think of the place?"

The intrusive voice surprised Victoria, causing her to jump with a little scream as she whipped around to face the speaker. Gan Ning leaned against the doorway much as Shang Xiang had, with his arms crossed and a superior smirk creasing his face. If he had been one of her brothers, she would have thrown her shoe at him.

"Where did you come from?" she instead demanded, planting her fists on her hips. "And why didn't I hear you coming?"

He laughed. "I don't wear those bells everywhere, y'know. Only put 'em on when I'm walking around town or headin' into a fight. How am I supposed to sneak up on pretty girls if I've got them dangling from my belt?"

She turned, trying to keep him from seeing her sudden blush. Was he only teasing, or was he actually interested? "I thought you said you'd perfected the art of moving silently whilst bedecked in bells."

"On the _battlefield._ A palace is a lot quieter than any combat zone, Tori." The ex-pirate flashed his cockiest grin at her, which only made the blush deepen. "It's just easier, that's all. So what do you think of the accomodations here?"

"Um, I guess they're okay." She glanced around the little room eloquently, trying to hide her surprise at the sudden change of subject. Gan Ning nodded.

"Now what you're used to, I take it?"

"Not really." This was a serious departure from her room in the future. Victoria was used to a black metal daybed, purple walls, fuzzy green rugs, and a million posters and pictures cut from magazines. Being in the center of mats, a painted folding screen, and naked walls was a little disconcerting to the displaced teenager. "This is a lot more...simple than my old room. Back home I had the walls plastered with pictures. Plus I had more furniture and knicknacks, stuff like that to liven up the room."

"Sounds like you had pretty rich parents," Gan Ning commented.

She shook her head. "I had five brothers, and feeding them took up most of the income, not that we were exactly rich or anything to begin with. I just got a little spoiled because I was the only girl. Parents didn't want me sharing a room with my brothers and all." Occasionally there were benefits to being female: it meant she didn't have to share her living space unless she deemed it necessary. At least some things were the same here in the past.

Gan Ning snorted. "I didn't have any brothers or sisters, so I wouldn't know anything about that. Besides, it's not like I'm some fancy noble either. Even if I wasn't an only child, I wouldn't have had a room to myself. I'm used to sleeping in somewhat crowded quarters."

"That whole pirate thing, I assume?" she teased.

"That's right." He pushed off the lintel. "Well, I just came to see that you're gettin' settled okay. I've got some unpacking and stuff to do before this feast Lord Sun's throwing tonight. If I got assigned a maid, she hasn't shown up yet."

Victoria wasn't quite sure what to make of the grin and the twinkle in his eye. "I didn't think you had all that much to unpack."

"I don't." He turned and strolled out of her room with a lazy wave. "See ya at dinner, Tori."

"See you then." She returned to her few belongings, not paying her friend a lick of attention as he left. Why couldn't this time-travel thing have happened while she was on vacation, dragging her bigass suitcase along behind her? Any sort of long-term departure from home should be accompanied by at least three changes of clothing, some make-up, and more choices of game than _Crisis Core _alone. Victoria wished she had picked _Assassin's Creed_ or _Dissidia_ as the game she'd taken to school that day. She hadn't beaten those titles yet - hell, she'd just bought _Dissida _the other day. Plus there was that killer pair of jeans she had bought last Saturday, the ones with the swirls up the legs that made her ass look like Beyonce's. She hadn't even gotten a chance to wear those yet!

"Dammit... Those jeans were sixty dollars, too," she muttered, thinking about her purse, which she had neglected to remove from Kate's car before her ill-fated attempt to storm home. The article was definitely useless here, but her purse had her wallet, and her wallet had those pictures of her family and friends. Her cell phone had so little juice right now, it was due to die any minute.

Not to mention, her purse also had her contact lens' case and solution, as well as her emergency set of glasses. What was she supposed to do if she lost a contact here? Nearsightedness could only be cured by laser surgery, which was definitely not available in ancient China.

After a few minutes of self-pity, the teenager forced herself to stop moping and sort out her few belongings. There were no bookshelves, so she stacked her textbooks against the wall beside her sleeping mat, where she could reach them in the event of insomnia. Her binders went next to them with the calculator on top, her pencil case and PSP beside those, and her sketchpad resting between the two stacks. That done, she sat back on her heels and examined the small pile of possessions, feeling the depression creep back into her mind. Until Zhou Yu returned her iPod, this was all she owned in the world: a bunch of school stuff, and a few electronics that would die any day now.

She swallowed the lump in her throat, reminding herself that she would not cry over sentimental shit like this. What would her brothers think, if they knew?

Too bad she couldn't control all of the tears.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Are you sure I look good in this? I feel like I should be getting ready for a spa or something," Victoria grumbled, looking down at the silk robe she was wearing.

"I am told this was one of Lady Wu's favorite dresses, because of its simplicity. The robe was designed to remind onlookers that heavy, fancy articles can distract the eye from the pure elegance of unadorned beauty. Even the colors are simple, perfectly paired. This was a dress the lady would wear to remind her husband to not overthink his plans." Gong Mei finished tying the robe shut and stepped away with a satisfied smile. "That is what Zhang Ji told me when I asked her to help me sort the wardrobe. I never had the honor of serving Lady Wu."

"That's okay. I just don't..." Victoria stopped, remembering that her maid still thought she was an angel.

"It is not to your preference, my lady?"

"No, I like it. It just feels strange to wear somebody else's clothes, particularly since this is Lord Sun's mother we're talking about here," she hastily explained, leaving out how odd the attire felt to a girl used to jeans and t-shirts. The only time she'd ever worn a robe was when she was on her way to or from the shower.

Gong Mei smiled behind her hand. "You get used to it quickly, my lady. The dress looks lovely on you."

"Yeah, I guess so..." It did look nice, Victoria assumed. The blue silk was that shade that people always told her emphasized her eyes, and the simple gold stitching matched her hair. The dress was nowhere near as fancy as those robes remembered the Empress wearing in _Curse of the Golden Flower_, but it was no less beautiful. Maybe this suited her better - she didn't own anything nearly as fancy as those glitzy gowns.

"So...where is the dining room?" she asked, hoping it was okay for her to leave her hair down. If they expected her to wear one of those fancy, complicated styles to compliment the robe, they were just going to have to wait for her hair to grow beyond her shoulders.

"Lady Sun is going to escort you, my lady," Gong Mei informed her demurely. "Hers is the honor of familiarizing you with the palace and its grounds."

"Oh." Victoria looked down, suddenly finding her hands the most interesting of objects. She'd known that.

Gong Mei bent beside her, a small frown on her lips. "My lady, why do you wear skulls?"

The odd question made Victoria stare at her, more than a little confused. "_What?"_

"You wear skull earrings. Why would a heavenly being such as yourself affect such things?" the maid wondered.

"Oh! Well, they were a gift from my brother Jesse when I got my ears pierced. They were supposed to be a joke, but I thought they were pretty kickass. I never go around to taking them out because my boyfriend broke up with me," Victoria explained.

Whether Gong Mei understood or not was up for debate, if the look on her face was any indicator. Victoria was saved by the sudden arrival of Sun Shang Xiang, who was decked out in a robe of bright red silk with gold accents. She took heart from the realization that the princess' hair was likewise too short for anything stylish to be done with it.

"Tori, my mother's robe looks beautiful on you," she complimented, grinning ear to ear.

"Thanks. You look pretty nice yourself," Victoria returned, feeling her lips curve. It was impossible not to smile around this spunky girl. "So, what exactly do I have to know about this feast?"

"Gong Mei, will you take her clothes to be washed, please?" Shang Xiang prompted.

"Yes, my lady."

The princess waited until Gong Mei had gathered Victoria's dirty clothes and scurried out of the room before turning her attention upon her blonde counterpart. "What sort of things do you want to know? We don't have time for a complete lesson in etiquette, but I can give you some tips."

Might as well begin with the most immediate concern on her mind. "I don't know how to use chopsticks," Victoria blurted.

The confession earned her a shocked expression before Shang Xiang composed herself. "You'll learn fast. Just watch Quan and me - you'll be sitting with us at the head of the table. Don't eat before Quan, okay? He's supposed to take the first bite, but once he does the rest of us can have our fill. Also, you might want to keep a low profile tonight, until I can teach you the proper etiquette and customs for things like this. Just follow my lead."

"Okay." She found herself nodding to everything the princess told her, and realized that Shang Xiang would make one hell of a queen once she married Liu Bei. She was a natural leader.

"Well, it's time to go. I hope you're hungry, Tori."

"As long as there's more than rice, I am," she quipped, trailing along in Shang Xiang's wake. Would it reflect too badly on her, if she tried to hide behind a girl at least six inches shorter than her? People were going to stare at her anyway, so what would that do to her budding reputation? Keep her from going to battle, maybe.

Then again, if she was to have any chance of people trusting her enough to send her anywhere outside Jian Ye, especially Shu, she had to appear as a strong, confident angel-messenger-whatever-woman. Victoria surpressed a groan as she struck ducking behind Shang Xiang during their entrance from her list of potential reactions.

"Something wrong?" the shorter girl asked, looking at her with concerned brown eyes.

Victoria shook her head and offered her a somewhat confident grin. "Just nerves. I don't see big groups of people very often back home."

Shang Xiang took her hand and gave it a small squeeze. "You get used to it."

Victoria sighed. "I'm going to hear that phrase a lot, aren't I?"

"Until you get used to things, yes."

_Joy. _

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"...so then I told him to use a different tactic, because there was no way _that _outdated excuse for a ploy would do any good against Dong Zhuo."

"What did you think would work?"

"I told him to start loading catapults with fried pork and stir-fry, and fire them into the city. If anything was going to get him out of there, food would do the trick!"

Victoria tried to look interested as the two men continued to laugh and joke about various names she recognized from WO2. They had introduced themselves along with all the other partygoers, but she had long since forgotten who they were. As far as she was concerned, they were just another pair of drunk old men. She had been subjected to a veritable army of them since the beginning of this feast, and heard countless jokes about Lu Bu's helmet and the physical compensation of his halberd. These educated, cultured men were just like her brother Christian and his college buddies. The party was much more civilized and relaxed than any frat party she'd ever heard of, but in some regards they were exactly alike.

At least the food was good. Victoria was still having issues with the chopsticks, but nobody seemed to really be paying attention to her lack of skill. There was a lot of drinking and talking going on, which gave her a nice bit of leeway for practice. When she made a mistake, Shang Xiang and Zhou Yu were somehow able to swoop in like ninjas and correct her before anybody noticed. It was nice, but a little irritating at the same time.

"I'll tell you what I think was going on. You know that whip Diao Chan always used? I think..."

"Yeah? Yeah?"

"...that she was using it to control Lu Bu behind closed doors!"

Victoria snorted. Men were exactly the same in _any _age.

"Excuse me, gentlemen," she offered, rising to her feet, "but I need some air." She didn't listen to their replies as she hurried outside to the gardens, waving to Shang Xiang to let her know where she was going. The princess nodded her understanding right as the blonde teenager departed.

The gardens were blessedly calm, exactly what Victoria's worn nerves needed. A few people were roaming about, admiring the foilage, but they paid little heed to the golden-haired curiosity padding by. The location seemed to inspire silence and a desire to sit and quietly enjoy it. Such a lack of noise would normally get to her, but in this case she was willing to ignore it in the face of some much-needed privacy.

At least until she turned a corner and found Ling Tong sitting on a bench beneath a tree, with his head in his hands.

Victoria hesitated, uncertain whether she should approach him or not. Before she could decide, the choice was made for her. Ling Tong lifted his head, brushing at his eyes, and spotted her standing at the entrance to his niche. "What are you doing here?" he asked, his tone carefully even.

She shrugged. "It was too crowded in there, so I decided to get some air."

"Tired of getting stared at, huh?"

"I was tired of that days ago."

He regarded her for a few moments, measuring her sincerity. Then, to her surprise, he scooted over and gestured for her to have a seat. Victoria took the offer, wary of his previous moodiness. The last thing she wanted was a fight.

"I can understand that. I'm tired of everybody treating me like a wounded dog or something," he complained. "They're constantly stepping around me like I'll attack at any moment."

"Well, they're worried about you," Victoria said. "Just trying to give you some space until you feel ready to talk or reach out or whatever."

He shook his head. "I'm willing to talk, so long as it isn't to _him_."

"Is that why you let me sit here?" she asked, tucking some hair behind her ear. "Because you need somebody to talk to?"

"You're the only one who has tried to talk some sense into my head since my father was killed. I figured you could listen as well as you could dish it out," he said, giving her a sideways glance.

She leaned back and spread her hands with a shrug. "I'm willing. Lay it on me."

Ling Tong snorted. "I've been thinking about what you said," he began, leaning forward to rest his forearms on his thighs. "About how my father wouldn't have wanted me to die for avenging him. I figured you were right - he wouldn't rest any easier if I killed Gan Ning and wound up executed for it. The thing is, I don't know if I can keep myself from going after him if I get the chance."

"So, what are you getting at?" she questioned, suspicion flickering at the back of her mind.

"I need a guard." He either saw that bush as especially interesting, or he was too embarrassed to look at her right now. "I want you to keep me cool whenever he and I have to work together, since you're going to be sent into battles along with the rest of us. I'm pretty much your bodyguard anyway, or one of them. Why not keep me from doing something stupid?"

Victoria examined his profile in the moonlight, studying his sincerity and the level of his discomfort. He must really not trust himself, since he's asking me to watch him, she thought. "Okay, Ling Tong. I'll make sure you don't get yourself into trouble with Gan Ning."

"Thank you, Tori." He turned his head enough to give her a little smile, and Victoria felt her gut clench. The last time it had done that was when her ex-boyfriend had asked her out.

Don't go all "infatuated teenage girl" now, Tori girl, she scolded herself. You don't want to know the chances of him actually being interested in you, particularly since you're friends with his worst enemy. Don't do this to yourself.

Fortunately, or not, her inner monologue was interrupted by a loud, obnoxious voice wafting through the gardens. "You sure she's out here?"

"She said she needed some air, so she has to be here somewhere," Shang Xiang's voice answered.

Victoria immediately sensed Ling Tong's hackles rising. She gripped his arm, made him look at her. "Don't," she told him. "Especially not in front of her."

He took a deep breath and stood up. "I won't do anything. But I think they're looking for you, Tori."

"Like I want to be found right now," she grumbled, rolling her eyes.

He looked her over, as if appraising her, then grabbed her hand. Victoria was caught off-guard as he pulled her deeper into the garden, away from the approaching voices of her friends.

"Ling Tong?" she asked, giving him a confused look as she stumbled after him.

"I don't really want to see your friend right now, and you want some breathing room," he offered by way of explanation. "We can circle through the gardens back to the feast, and hopefully they'll just think they missed you in the flowers or something."

"As if they could possibly miss me," she grumbled, tossing her head so her hair caught the light streaming from the palace. "Do you know anybody else at this feast with shiny golden locks?"

"Do you want them to drag you back in there so soon?" he retorted, leading her past a small pond.

"No..." she finally allowed. "Even _Heavenly Messengers _need a break from people now and then."


	7. How Not to Choose Your Weapon

**Summary: **Somewhere between her best friend's car and her house, Victoria got a little lost... How did actual history go again? And why the hell couldn't she have wound up in Shu?

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing but various and assorted DW games and WO2. If only my ownership extended beyond mere copies of said games...

**Queen's Quornor: **Damn, it's been three years since I last updated this thing. A new Dynasty Warriors, and its various expansions and spin-offs, has come and gone, and there's a new one on the way for the States (lucky Japan, getting it first...). I realize I really have no excuse, but I do have a reason why I haven't updated this in so long. Job, money worries, lack of ideas, you name it. Graduating really put a damper on my creativity and drive for some reason, and I'm still trying to fix this situation. But I do want to finish this story, among others. But when I first posted HRM, the most up-to-date Dynasty Warriors game was DW6. The characters have all undergone some serious cosmetic changes in that time, and a bunch of new faces have been added. My only regret with this story, now, is that I won't be able to have Tori encounter the Sons of Sima and Zhong Hui. She'd have a lot of fun putting that arrogant little traitor in his place! Eh, I have been kicking around the idea of a Warriors Orochi spinoff of this fic. Maybe I'll do that in the future. We'll see. Anyway, as you can surmise, I'm going to have a few of the new faces pop up in Tori's path. Whether this will have an effect upon her decision to stay in Wu or make a break for what will eventually be Shu, you'll just have to wait and see. Also, for convenience's sake, I will not be using everybody's full names at all times. In Tori's mind, they are hereafter designated by their personal names, not their styles or their family names.

How Not to Choose Your Weapon

Thrust, circle, return.

Thrust, circle, return.

"Again!"

Victoria groaned and thrust the spear forward for what seemed like the thousandth time, wishing she had denied her fangirl urges when Ning had told her to choose a weapon. She had picked the spear, in theory, because of its range. In reality, it had been because that was Zhao Yun's weapon of choice. She had already attempted a few of his signature attacks, only to be informed by her self-appointed instructor that she needed to master the basics first.

Now her arms felt like they were slowly removing themselves from her shoulders. Spears were _heavy._

"Can't we take a break?" she begged. "I think I'm about to dislocate something!"

The former pirate shook his head. "You're in pathetic shape for someone who's supposed to be a harbinger of divine favor," he told her bluntly. "If I let you out on a battlefield like this, you'll die real quick. We've got to get you up to standards as fast as possible, and I guarantee this training will do it." He adjusted the spear in her hands, then stepped back and folded his arms. "Now, again!"

Victoria grit her teeth and forced herself to repeat the manuever. She never regretted all those pizza parties and diet-off sleepovers as much as she did at this moment. According to her friends in her own time, she was in great shape. Ning, however, was of a far different opinion. He wanted toned muscle, not a trim waist and perky breasts.

Well, by the time he was done with her, she'd have that muscle. If she didn't turn into a quivering puddle of goo first.

"Put your back into it! Lazy attacks like that won't save you!"

"How about I make you stand up straight by shoving this spear up your ass?" she growled, repeating the attack pattern once more.

"_That's _the attitude you want." Ning nodded sagely, a smile curving his mouth. "Now take that anger and channel it into your attacks. Again!"

Victoria felt her lip curl in a snarl. He wanted angry? She'd show him angry!

She performed the attack, but after the withdraw she kicked at her her invisible target, visualizing her friend's cocky smirk as she swung around. Coming out of the kick, she rammed the spear forward, about where his mouth would be. That done, she resumed the ready position, thinking about his teeth bouncing along the pavement.

"Not bad. Not bad at all!" His compliment startled her, and she twisted to regard him with surprise.

"I did good?" she asked.

"You put your own spin on it, which I like seeing in a warrior. It shows that you're using your brain, not just sticking to what you've been taught." He glanced up at the sun and nodded. "I think that little display should get you a quick break. We've been out here a few hours."

She sighed in relief, stretching her arms. "Thanks, man. You have no idea how heavy this thing is right now." She glanced down at her sweat-soaked shirt, enjoying the breeze as it cooled her down. When the day's training session was over, all she wanted was a bath.

"Probably not. I trained with spears when I was a kid, and they feel like sticks to me now." Ning handed a her a clay jug, watching as she gulped down the water. "Careful, you don't need stomach cramps on top of sore arms."

Reluctantly, Victoria relinquished the jug. "Is this the kind of thing you put your men through?" she asked, retreating to the shade of a nearby tree. Hot sun and heavy spear? She deserved a freaking nap after a workout like that!

"Until I'm satisfied that they can fight, yeah." The former pirate joined her, leaning against the truck while she sprawled between the roots. "You know, you've got muscle. It's just not in the right places."

"What do you mean?" she asked, rolling her head to look at him. She decided not to comment on how his comment made him sound like a creeper.

"Your legs are strong. There was more power in the kick than anything you did with that spear. If we can get your arms to that level, you'll be good to go."

"Well, that comes from running around in the woods so much."

Ning gave her a quizzical look, so she elaborated. "My home is in West Virginia, one of the hilliest states in the US. There are so many mountains and valleys, entire towns used to be completely isolated from the rest of the world. A few still are, in my time. On top of that, it's all forest. I live in one of the backwoods areas, so I used to spend a ton of time hiking and exploring." She pushed some loose hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear. "Never went hunting, though. That was more my dad's thing, and my eldest brother's. Sam and Joey are pretty keen on it, too. Though, they're too young to use a gun yet."

If her friend was curious as to what a gun was, he kept his interest to himself. Instead, he was looking across the courtyard with an appreciative smile. "Well, this day's certainly looking up. First I get to teach one lovely lady how to use a spear, and now here come two more!"

Curious, Victoria sat up and propped herself against the tree, catching sight of the approaching females. One was Shangxiang, who had abandoned her usual bright attire in favor of a sleek red and gold two-piece dress. For some reason, she had paired the outfit with a big red flower, which she had pinned in her hair. Her companion was a woman who just about matched what Victoria would consider the ideal Asian beauty, although her skimpy orange garb definitely did not fit the image. She walked beside the Sun princess with quiet dignity, a gentle humor suffusing her brown eyes.

"Tori!" Shangxiang came to a stop at her feet, gesturing to her companion. "I want to introduce you to someone. This is Lady Bu, but everybody just calls her Lianshi."

"I am pleased to make your acquaintance," Lianshi murmured, bowing. Her long black hair spilled forward, rolling off her milky shoulder, and Victoria was reminded that she needed to grow out her own hair. This woman had the longest ponytail she'd ever seen.

"It's nice to meet you," she replied. "My name's Victoria Townsend, but you can call me Tori."

"Everyone does," Ning quipped. "So what brings you two out here? It couldn't have just been to make introductions."

"We came to work on our archery, and I saw you two sitting over here. Lianshi only just got back to the palace, so I figured it was time for her to meet you." She turned to the taller woman, an impish smile playing about her lips. "I almost forgot. The loudmouth there is Gan Ning. Pay no attention to the smell; this is him after he's had a bath."

"I understand that you are not from our land, Lady Tori?" Lianshi inquired, ignoring Ning's squawked protest.

"Yeah, I'm from about as far away as you can get," she replied, tugging at her little ponytail. Though, was she? If she really was to start digging through the earth, would she end up in the USA? Or would she find herself drowning in somewhere at the bottom of the Atlantic?

"Then it must be rather lonely for you, being so far away from your friends and family."

Victoria shrugged, ignoring the familiar pang stirred by the other woman's words. "I miss them, yeah. But hey, I've got new friends now, and I'm sure that over time, they'll start feeling like family." She chuckled softly, watching Ning and Shangxiang bicker. "Everybody in Wu seems to treat this like one big family, as it is."

Lianshi giggled and shook her head. "I know what you mean. Half of the time, I have to remind people that I'm the princess's handmaiden. They're so friendly with me, they often forget my position."

"You're her handmaiden? Really?" Victoria asked in surprise, staring at her. This gorgeous woman looked more like she belonged in the Court, not serving Shangxiang.

"She is. Though, if Quan has his way, I'm sure she'll out-rank me someday," Shangxiang put in, her teeth shining in the sunlight. "If you ever watch them together, it's pretty obvious that he's sweet on her. I daresay she's of a similar mind, though she'd never admit it."

"My lady!" Lianshi protested, her porcelain skin darkening to a soft pink.

Ning snorted. "I can see why he'd like you so much. Any man would be, if your personality's as good as your looks."

The handmaiden looked down, a smile playing about her lips. "I am not the only woman so worthy of attention, my lord. From what I understand, Lady Tori is quite the topic of conversation about the palace."

"Well, she is our Messenger of Heaven." Shangxiang walked over and knelt down, pulling the tie on Victoria's hair, letting it fall about her shoulders. The golden tresses caught the light streaming through the leaves, flashing brilliantly where the sun touched it. "When people see this, they always take notice."

"But is she really of the heavens, or from another land?" Lianshi inquired, tilting her head slightly.

"Who knows? All we know is that she's definitely not from around here." Ning's comment brought Victoria's attention his way, and he nodded to her with a strangely reassuring, cocky smile. "I mean, even if you could explain the hair, what about the eyes? Nobody has eyes that color."

"I suppose you are right," Lianshi demurred. "She is most unusual in appearance, but I can see where her exotic looks would stir thoughts of Heaven. Does it truly matter where she originated, when those around her will formulate their own beliefs regardless of what they are told?"

"That's exactly what Zhou Yu said when he met her," the spunky princess said, putting an arm over Victoria's shoulders. "He thinks that having her in the ranks will make the soldiers fight harder, because she's Heaven's Will personified. I can tell you that she's already had an effect on the men while they train and keep watch; nobody wants to look bad or weak in front of her, so they put everything they have into whatever they're doing whenever they realize she's around."

"It's also because no man wants to let a pretty girl see him doing a poor job. I know if I was in their position, I wouldn't give anything less than my best while Tori's around." Gan Ning scratched his back against the tree with a satisfied grunt, sending bits of bark raining down on the grass. "There's no better motivation than a beautiful woman to get the boys in shape."

"So you really do think she's pretty, huh?" Shangxiang asked, standing up and brushing off her knees.

"Me and every man in a hundred miles," he replied, pushing himself off the tree. "Actually, all three of you are beautiful. But according to you, Sun Quan's got a thing for your handmaiden, and if anybody goes after you, Princess, it'll be someone braver and dumber than me. I like my head exactly where it is, thank you."

"As if I'd be interested in someone like you," Shangxiang scoffed. "I prefer men who know the meaning of hygiene, and I don't mean a quick dive in the river!"

Lianshi laughed. "I suppose that leave Lady Tori as the only possible option for you, Lord Gan Ning."

Victoria's eyes grew and she stared at the taller woman, stunned. Ning? He was just a friend! Couldn't anybody see that?

Ning's voice brought her out of her momentary stupor. "If Sun Quan's kid sister is off-limits, do you really think I could get away with chasing Tori? I put one hand on her, and half of Wu will want me dead!" He huffed and shook his head. "If I didn't know better, I'd say that you want me to get killed in some romantic misadventure, Lianshi."

"Not at all. But I do think that both Lady Tori and the princess are going to find their husbands chosen for them in the future. So perhaps it would be best if you maintained some distance between yourself and them."

"Don't remind me," Shangxiang grumbled. "I don't want Quan to pick some simpering minister for me. I've made it quite clear that I want a hero. All others need not apply."

Victoria bit her tongue. She wanted to tell her friend exactly who she would wind up marrying, but... Wouldn't that fall into the time-alteration, let-it-happen-on-its own category? Would telling Shangxiang that she would wed the man who would found a nation known as Shu screw up history?

She decided discretion was the better part of valor and kept her thoughts to herself. God only knew how the two of them met in the first place.

"I think it's time we headed to the archery range," the handmaiden said. "These two need to get back to their practice, and I know you are itching to fire your bow, my lady."

Shangxiang nodded. "I guess you're right. From what I saw, Tori really needs the help." She started walked off at a brisk pace, forestalling Victoria's defensive retort. Lianshi followed her, giving the blonde teen a sympathetic smile.

"Well, I guess the break's over." Ning stretched and reached down, yanking Victoria to her feet before she could protest. "I think it's time I started you on some more complicated moves, since you seem to have the basics down. C'mon."

Victoria grit her teeth and picked up the spear, wondering if her sadistic instructor would have mercy if her arms spontaneously detached from her body.

"Now, Tori!"

Cursing her decision in choosing the spear, she forced herself to run after Ning.


End file.
